Chapter 8

            Back in the duel, Seto had placed another card facedown while Atem stood.

 

“That attack… It drained some, but I’m far from finished. Magician Valkyria, attack! Mystic Scepter Blast,” the pharaoh yelled.

 

The attack destroyed Peten, bringing Seto’s life points down to 2300. He groaned in pain and he appeared to be weakened slightly. Something very wrong was happening and I was beginning to fear for their lives. Seto regained his composure quickly, but he still trembled slightly.

 

“Nice try, Yugi, but I knew you’d make that move, which is why my facedown card is… Deck Destruction Virus,” he yelled.

 

Atem scowled, knowing what would happen.

 

“You set off this crippling trap when you destroyed my Dark Clown and now its viral tentacles will infect ten cards from your deck and then send them straight to the graveyard,” Seto explained.

 

“Oh, no.”

 

“Oh, yes, Yugi. Now say goodbye to twenty-five percent of your duel deck.”

 

The plasma-like tentacles came from out of the card and straight to Atem’s deck, sending ten cards to the graveyard. They wrapped around his arms and sent electrical shock waves to him.

 

“No,” Atem yelled.

 

“I hate to be the bearer of even more bad news, but when you destroyed my Peten the Dark Clown, you activated his special ability, allowing me to summon another Dark Clown to take his place.”

 

Another Peten appeared on the field, in defense mode. He took off his hat and gave a bow, chuckling all the time. He then stuck out his tongue at Atem. I had to resist the urge to giggle.

 

‘Ebony, this is no laughing matter,’ Asenath warned.

 

‘I’m sorry, but that’s cute,’ I answered.

 

Seto drew another card and his eyes narrowed slightly. I was sure he’d drawn a card that would help him.

 

“I summon Des Feral Imp. And next, I’ll activate the magic of Card of Demise. It lets me draw five new cards from my deck, but if I don’t use ‘em in five turns, I lose ‘em in five turns,” Seto explained.

 

He drew five cards and took a quick look at them. I could tell he had a good hand.

 

“Now, I’ll sacrifice my Feral Imp and activate White Dragon Ritual to summon Paladin of White Dragon. Paladin, attack with Ionic Spear Burst,” he yelled.

 

The attack went straight for the Magician Valkyria, destroying her and causing Atem’s life points to drop to 3200. He was weakened once again, as was I.

 

“This is really bad,” I mumbled.

 

‘Yes, but there is no way to stop it from where I stand. You and Yugi may be able to, though,’ Asenath answered.

 

“And now, I summon Blue Eyes White Dragon!”

 

Seto’s Blue Eyes appeared on the field and a small smile graced my features. There was something about the Dragon that I found familiar, though I couldn’t explain it.

 

“Do you have good news,” Yugi asked.

 

“Probably not good for you, but Seto just summoned the Blue Eyes,” I answered.

 

“That’s awful! He’s going to take out the pharaoh with that! Why are you smiling?”

 

“Because I love the Blue Eyes White Dragon. It’s strange, but whenever Seto and I are working with the virtual reality game, Blue Eyes and Wingweaver always protect me, without hesitation. That’s beside the point, though. Right now, we need to worry about the fact that this is a shadow game.”

 

I turned my attention back towards the duel as Yugi and I continued walking the corridors of the Millennium Puzzle.

 

“Take a good look. It’s the monster that’s been the bane of your dueling existence ever since our first match, and now he’s back, but he’s not alone. Any last requests,” Seto asked, placing a facedown card.

 

“This is really bad… really, really bad,” I murmured.

 

“What,” Yugi asked.

 

“Like I said, Seto’s not acting like himself, even with Blue Eyes there. I’m worried.”

 

Yugi nodded, understanding the concern I had for my dearest friend. We continued walking the corridors in silence. Suddenly, he saw something.

 

“There he is. Hey, pharaoh,” he yelled and ran after the spirit.

 

I followed after him, seeing the pharaoh’s form as well. We turned the corner and he disappeared.

 

“Where did he go,” Yugi mumbled.

 

“Over there,” I answered, and pointed straight ahead.

 

It was strange that Atem was appearing and disappearing like that, but I decided not to question it. After all, we were in the Millennium Puzzle. We followed Atem down the corridor until he walked through a metal door.

 

“This isn’t his room,” Yugi mumbled and I got a really bad feeling from that.

 

Yugi opened the door and we could see what looked like and Egyptian tomb. Atem was standing in front of a sarcophagus with the head of a jackal. I knew it had to be Anubis. Atem became a pale blue aura and was absorbed into the casing.

 

“Pharaoh! Oh, no,” Yugi exclaimed.